At the end of November 2014, we lost our workshop space. We took the occasion to re-examine our business, the mid-century market, and Erik’s penchant for picking. We realized that we wanted to expand beyond mid-century modern items. Our business name was not going to allow us to do that, so we decided to rebrand.

After much thought, we decided to use Erik’s name for the business, allowing him the ability to pick whatever is interesting while out on the road. We are still HUGE fans of mid-century and modern furniture and decorative items, so they will always remain a big part of what we offer.

However, Erik describes his aesthetic as “modern with a punk rock attitude,” meaning if you want to throw an early 1900s ornate table into a room filled with modern furniture, go for it! If you want to use a fabulous hospital gurney as a chaise lounge, do it! Don’t let some outside “authority” tell you what you can and can’t do with your personal space in the interest of “pure” modernism. Our design philosophy is that if you want to mix modernism with Victorian, or industrial with Deco, or any other sort of mash-up, you should do so.

If you’re looking for a blended style, Erik G. Warner Decorative Salvage can help you. If you’re looking for a specific piece, let us know. We’ll try to find it.

—–

A big part of our rebranding has been switching over account names, including this website, Gmail, and Twitter.

Items from Erik G. Warner Decorative Salvage are available for sale through our website Shop. (See the sidebar menu.) When you’re ready to purchase, you’ll be taken to our Square Marketplace page to complete the sale. (You can also shop directly from our Square Marketplace page if you prefer.)

Our Mid-Century Vibe Etsy page will remain live for a couple more months and then will be shut down. Feel free to check items out there in the meantime.

The last big social media account we have to switch over is Facebook, which we’ll be doing soon. Turns out we have to request a name change from Facebook, but we didn’t want to give everyone a big shock by changing it without an announcement.

As we go through this transition, we’ll be acquiring new and fascinating inventory to add to our online shop. We’ll keep you posted as new items become available.

We thought we’d share the process we used to restore one of the treasures we found. Not necessarily THE right process, just one that works for us. Here are the steps.

Pic 1 – West Michigan Furniture Co. credenza as found, stains on top, compression damage, split front leg.Pic 2 – Detail showing damage to credenza top, including two very obvious black water marks.Pic 3 – Applied Citristrip paint stripper to wood surfaces.Pic 4 – Preparing to deal with water marks.Pic 5 – Water marks were treated with Savogran wood bleach (oxalic acid), applied with a toothbrush per manufacturer’s directions.Pic 6 – Before and after treatment of water marks.Pic 7 – After addressing all surface defects (water marks, steaming out compression damage, etc.), all wood surfaces were sanded to a minimum of 180 grit sandpaper.Pic 8 – Depending on type of wood, some may require pre-treatment with a wood conditioner which will help with even absorption of stain. Some woods (i.e. birch) absorb stain unevenly, resulting in a blotchy appearance if not pre-treated.Pic 9 – After pre-treatment, apply stain. For this project we used Old Masters brand American Walnut Wiping Stain.Pic 10 – After staining the piece, lacquer was applied as a top coat. We’re trying to transition to environmentally sensitive products in our restoration work and to that end, used Valspar’s Zenith Waterborne Lacquer. Zenith is a Greenguard Certified product.Pic 11 – The lacquer was applied with a Fuji Mini-Mite 3 HVLP spray system. This spray system makes the application of top coats a snap. With HVLP, there is less overspray, so there is less waste of product. Also, in using the waterborne lacquer, clean-up requires water instead of noxious chemicals.Pics 12-16 – The finished credenza. The entire project took about a week.The finished top of the credenza.Before & After shot of coffee stains.Again, the finished credenza.Pic 17 – Repaired leg of finished credenza. We did not get a before shot of this leg, which was split down the middle and had to be glued and clamped.

Broyhill’s Brasilia line is popular among mid-century modern aficionados because it mimics the iconic architecture of Oscar Niemeyer, who designed buildings in the capital of Brazil in the early 1960s.

Mid-Century Vibe has this Gentleman’s Chest (called a Door Chest by Broyhill) available for sale.

In February 2013, Mr. Vibe was out on a picking junket looking for mid-century treasures when he came across a striking copper and black abstract painting in a shop in the teaming metropolis of Genola, Minnesota (Population: 75).

Not being an expert in art, he was unsure of what he had, but he knew he had something special.

The piece was signed “D.H. Spahn ’63” on the front and had a title on the back. It was called “Inschrift,” the German word for “Inscription.”

Mr. Vibe did some research on D.H. Spahn, but came up empty-handed. We placed the painting for sale at MidModMen+friends and admired it when we were in the store.

Recently, Neal, one of the MidModMen, suggested we look up Dieterich Spahn to see if he could possibly be the painting’s D.H. Spahn.

We discovered that Dieterich Spahn is a renowned artist who specializes in liturgical stained glass, having over 3,000 installations. Although he specializes in stained glass, he is also a painter, with his works being held in collections internationally.

Mr. Vibe emailed Dieterich through his website and attached a picture of the painting, asking if he was the artist. Dieterich replied that, yes, he was the artist of our painting and he remembered it. He then shared information about who he had sold the painting to and asked how it came to be in Genola since the last he had heard, it was in River Falls, Wisconsin. How it came to land in Genola, we had no idea.

In our email conversations, we invited Dieterich to visit the painting at the store and he gladly accepted the invitation. He came to visit this past Saturday and shared some of his life history. He also posed with his painting, which is actually one of his earliest works in the United States. He is originally from Germany, having come here in 1961 at the invitation of stained glass artist Peter Dohmen, owner of Peter Dohmen Studios. (There’s lots of great history on Spahn on this page at Jim on Light’s website.)

During Mr. Vibe’s conversation with Dieterich at MidModMen, our hometown of Little Falls was mentioned. Dieterich said he had done work here at St. Mary’s Church. Peter Dohmen Studios had been contracted to design and install the stained glass, with Dieterich being assigned to design and make the stained glass in the baptistery, chapel, and above the main door.

Stained glass designed by Dieterich Spahn in chapel at St. Mary’s Church, Little Falls, MN

Stained glass designed by Dieterich Spahn in chapel at St. Mary’s Church, Little Falls, MN

Stained glass designed by Dieterich Spahn in chapel at St. Mary’s Church, Little Falls, MN

Stained glass designed by Dieterich Spahn in chapel at St. Mary’s Church, Little Falls, MN

Stained glass designed by Dieterich Spahn in chapel at St. Mary’s Church, Little Falls, MN

Stained glass designed by Dieterich Spahn in baptistry at St. Mary’s Church, Little Falls, MN

Posts navigation

Where to Buy

Erik G. Warner Decorative Salvage offers refurbished furniture directly to customers and at MidModMen+friends, a retail location located in St. Paul, MN, that specializes in mid-century furniture and decor.

For inquiries regarding specific items you are searching for, please call us at 320-630-4697.

Archives

Archives

Where to Buy

Erik G. Warner Decorative Salvage offers refurbished furniture directly to customers and at MidModMen+friends, a retail location located in St. Paul, MN, that specializes in mid-century furniture and decor.

For inquiries regarding specific items you are searching for, please call us at 320-630-4697.